82 child soldiers saved in Democratic Republic of Congo -- U.N. force

Indian soldiers of the U.N. mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo are pictured near Goma in June 2013.

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82 child soldiers have been rescued from an armed group, U.N mission says

13 girls were among the children rescued from the Mayi Mayi Bakata Katanga

The children range from 8 to 17 years in age; 40 have been reunited with their families

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has a long history of violence

Scores of child soldiers, some of them as young as eight years old, have been rescued from an armed group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the U.N. mission in the African nation said.

The 82 children, 13 of them girls, were recovered since Sunday from the Mayi Mayi Bakata Katanga armed group in the southeastern Katanga province, MONUSCO said Friday in a statement.

The children, aged up to 17 years, had reportedly been recruited by the armed group within the past six months, it said.

Forty of them have been reunited with their parents.

The others are being cared for until they can be returned home, the statement said.

"We are extremely concerned by continued reports of active recruitment by Mayi Mayi Bakata Katanga and other armed groups in eastern DRC," said MONUSCO chief Martin Kobler.

"Children face unacceptable risks when they are recruited for military purposes. The recruitment of children, particularly those under 15 years of age, could constitute a war crime and those responsible must be held to account."